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Consulting

There was an engineer who had an exceptional gift for fixing all things mechanical After serving his company loyally for over 30 years, he happily retired.

Several years later his company contacted him regarding a seemingly impossible problem they were having with one of their multi-million dollar machines

They had tried everything and everyone else to get the machine fixed but to no avail. In desperation, they called on the retired engineer who had solved so many of their problems in the past The engineer happy with his retirement, reluctantly took the challenge. He spent a day studying the huge machine.

At the end of the day he marked a small x in chalk on a particular component of the machine and proudly stated, ``This is where your problem is''. The part was replaced and the machine worked perfectly again.

The company received a bill for \$50,000 from the engineer for his service

Accounting demanded an itemized accounting of his charges

The engineer responded briefly: \begin{verbatim One chalk mark $ 1,00 Knowing where to put it $ 49.999,00 \end{verbatim

The bill was paid in full, and the engineer never had his retirement disturbed again.

Vocabulary Help

  • gift: talento
  • fix: consertar
  • happily: alegremente
  • retire: aposentar
  • regarding: em relação a, a respeito de
  • seemingly: impossible problem - problema aparentemente impossível
  • to: no avail - não adiantou
  • challenge: desafio
  • chalk: giz
  • proudly: orgulhosamente
  • replace: substituir
  • receive: receber
  • bill: conta
  • demand: exigir
  • charges: cobrança
  • retirement: repouso


Mais histórias como esta podem ser encontradas no livro Read in English: Uma Maneira Divertida de Aprender Inglês, publicado pela Editora Novatec,


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